1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dispatch systems and more specifically to electronic dispatch boards for use with message recording machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many businesses, such as telephone companies, have a large number of field service personnel. These service people typically install new equipment at a customer's facility or repair old equipment. In order to maintain the good will of the customers, it is critical that these service people respond as quickly as possible to a customer's request for service.
Field service personnel are usually assigned to a local service center. The service center personnel act as dispatchers to assign particular jobs to the field service people. The dispatchers keep track of the new installation jobs and also answer telephone calls from customers requesting repairs to equipment. The field service people contact the service centers for instruction and are assigned a job. Once a job assignment is completed, the field service person then contacts the center by telephone or personally to report a job completed and to receive a new job assignment.
This type of dispatch system can quickly become overwhelmed. For example, during peak contact times early morning and just before and after lunch), the field service people contact the dispatcher for their new assignments. If there are only twenty dispatchers for one hundred and fifty field service people, then it is clear that the dispatchers will not be able to keep up with all of the contacts from the field service people. The field service people are delayed for long periods of time or, if they are telephoning the dispatcher for assignments, they reach only busy signals. Due to the high labor pay rate of field service people, this wasted time can add up to much money and inefficiency.
During peak periods, the dispatch system can also strain customer relations. Customers calling the service center receive busy signals or are put on hold. Once a customer makes contact with a dispatcher to report a problem, it takes additional time for the dispatcher to get the assignment to a field service person. Another problem is that once a field service person finishes a job, he or she typically calls the service center from the customer's telephone to report a job completion and request a new assignment. The customer has to wait while the field service person trys to get a dispatcher to take down the job completion information and assign the next job.